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The Ten Most Beautiful Tunnels in the World and Where You Can Find Them

The Ten Most Beautiful Tunnels in the World and Where You Can Find Them

If a wardrobe filled with musty coats brought people to Narnia, we wonder where these beautiful tunnels might bring you. Let’s take a look at ten beautiful passageways from around the world.

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Boiling Spaghetti with Salt Shown to Do No Good for It

Boiling Spaghetti with Salt Shown to Do No Good for It

I freaking knew it!

Spaghetti and other pasta recipes have repeatedly asked us to “boil with salt” – a rule that has always baffled me. Once, early on in my cooking life, I decided to be a good boy and add the salt as requested only to find that it didn’t make a lick of difference to the end result. I haven’t looked back since.

In an interview with website, President Online, Tokyo Kasei University Graduate School of Home Economics, Keiko Nagao, puts this myth of boiling with salt to rest once and for all, thus saving us from a needless cooking step. Read More

Calling All Evil Billionaires: The Dream of Space Flight Can be Yours for a Fraction of Your Fortune

Calling All Evil Billionaires: The Dream of Space Flight Can be Yours for a Fraction of Your Fortune

It used to be that to go to space you needed to join NASA and become an astronaut. But you’re an evil billionaire, and you’re far too busy being evil for all that training in the gravitron.

Lucky for you and whatever evil space plans you’re hatching, SXC (Space Expedition Corporation) offers the dream of space travel to any commoner with US$100,000 lying around, a pittance that will barely put a dent in your underground chamber of dubiously acquired gold bricks.

There are also a number of other aerospace companies offering a variety of space travel flavors, from a few minutes in orbit to a full 9 days at the International Space Station (ISS), complete with space walk. Let’s take a look at the different space travel packages offered, including one that costs US$150 million. 

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【Photo Gallery】Original vs. Remade Versions of Horror Movie Posters

【Photo Gallery】Original vs. Remade Versions of Horror Movie Posters

There are almost too many movies being remade nowadays (did we really need another Rollerball?). There are also quite a few Japanese movies that have been remade into Hollywood films. It’s sometimes great to be able to watch your favorite movie redone using the most modern techniques and special effects, but not so great if a classic is butchered (we’re looking at you Red Dawn).

However, regardless of whether or not a remake lives up to the original, the newly designed movie posters are always interesting to look at. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of movie posters of the original and remake versions of 35 horror films. Most have managed to up the creepiness factor (with a few exceptions).

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Catch-22: Guys Interested in Small Breasts are Probably the Type of Guy Girls Should Stay Far, Far Away From

Catch-22: Guys Interested in Small Breasts are Probably the Type of Guy Girls Should Stay Far, Far Away From

New research from Japan takes a look into the psychology of male bewb preference and is shedding some unfavorable light on the inner workings of the small breast-loving male mind, resulting in an unfortunate catch-22 for small-chested women: the type of guy who appreciates your size is probably also a pervy weirdo.

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Once Seen, Can Never Be Unseen: Pictures That Speak a Thousand Obscene Words

Once Seen, Can Never Be Unseen: Pictures That Speak a Thousand Obscene Words

A picture speaks a thousand words, so they say. But if pictures could actually talk, sometimes you wish they would just shut up and go away. Other times, no matter how awful or shocking a picture may be, you somehow can’t tear your eyes away and you stare in bewilderment, struck by new fears for the future of humanity, wondering why cameras were ever invented if they were just going to be used to chronicle mass pool orgies of blow-up dolls.

If you can shed light on any of these shocking images, comments are very welcome. Japanese netizens were mostly left dumbstruck by the level of perversion. More bizarre amateur photography coming up after the break! Obviously, NSFW…

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Beware the Dangers of Free Wi-Fi

Beware the Dangers of Free Wi-Fi

When away on travel for either business or pleasure, there is no greater treasure than a free Wi-Fi hot spot. However, be warned that in recent years there’s been an increasing number of cases wherein these blessed havens are used to steal people’s personal information! People traveling abroad are said to be at an even greater risk for damage caused by suspicious Wi-Fi providers. Read More

Around the World with Your iPhone: Nine Convenient Apps for World Travelers

Around the World with Your iPhone: Nine Convenient Apps for World Travelers

It doesn’t take 80 days to circumnavigate the world anymore, but we do have a host of new problems, like how to stay connected when overseas and outside of our smartphone carrier’s signal!

Well, a fun article popped up on Gizmodo Japan this weekend with nine great apps to have on your iPhone while traveling the world. Based on the author’s personal 3-month long journey around the world, there are lots of good recommendations! Unfortunately, some of these apps might not help you if you don’t live in Japan, but most of them will be useful for any world traveler. We’ve come up with our own alternatives where applicable.

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Redefining Life and Death at the Forefront of Modern Medicine

Redefining Life and Death at the Forefront of Modern Medicine

The question of what happens after we die has troubled humankind for millennia, with the main problem being that anyone who knows the answer is, well, no longer with us. However,  the “after-death” experiences of people who have technically died and then been brought back to life via resuscitation may hold at least some part of the puzzle. Read More

Next Die Hard Movie to be Set in Tokyo, Possibly Have a Silly Title

Next Die Hard Movie to be Set in Tokyo, Possibly Have a Silly Title

See that face? It’s pretty much exactly the same as the one I pulled when I heard that there is to be yet another Die Hard movie. My expression when I heard that the production may be released under the title Die Hardest was like this, too, but as if a gang of irritated bees was also stinging my face and eyes.

That’s right, cinephiles, Bruce Willis is set to return in yet another action adventure extravaganza sometime in the near future, somehow evading bad guys with curious accents, speeding bullets and his own slowly encroaching retirement once again.

This time around, the mayhem is coming to none other than Japan’s capital city Tokyo. Our enigmatic reporter Mr. Sato has already locked himself away in a dimly lit room to study the past films at length and practice screaming in the hope of landing himself a walk-on part.

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Famicom Creator Masayuki Uemura Had No Faith in the Game System’s Success, Colored it After His Boss’ Scarf

Famicom Creator Masayuki Uemura Had No Faith in the Game System’s Success, Colored it After His Boss’ Scarf

This year Nintendo and fans celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Family Computer (Famicom) game system originally released in 1983.  It was the machine that revitalized home gaming worldwide with its later incarnation, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In a story of shocking success, no one was more shocked perhaps than the system’s head developer, Masayuki Uemura who revealed the details of the Famicom’s rocky beginnings in an interview with Shupure News.

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Japanese TED Speaker Turns Yo-yo Performance into a Martial Art, Receives Standing Ovation

Japanese TED Speaker Turns Yo-yo Performance into a Martial Art, Receives Standing Ovation

The TED (Technology Education and Design) website is easily one of my most favourite places in the entire digital world. With talks from industry experts, innovative thinkers and creative individuals with something valuable to say, I’ve lost hundreds of hours on the site watching presentations and listening to talks, absorbing knowledge and expanding my view of the world, galaxy, universe.

Filmed in February this year at a TED conference in Long Beach, California, the following video sees a young man by the name of Black take to the stage dressed like a cross between a ninja and a rock star. After telling the story of how he first picked up a yo-yo and struggled to perform even the simplest of tricks, he goes on to talk about how mastering this simple toy gave him the confidence he always lacked. As if more proof were needed having already seen him calmly address thousands of spectators in English, Black then launches into a yo-yo routine that left us completely open-mouthed.

The full video after the jump.

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A Tragic (But Kinda Funny) Case of Tattoos Gone Wrong, But Why, Oh Why, Did This Happen?

A Tragic (But Kinda Funny) Case of Tattoos Gone Wrong, But Why, Oh Why, Did This Happen?

We Japanese are no strangers to Chinese characters (or kanji, in Japanese). The ancient letters from China make up a crucial part of our own written language, and we have to say the complex yet elegant form of kanji can seem strikingly cool (except when we had to practice and learn all those letters in grade school), even for those of us who use the letters everyday. So we can certainly understand how these characters could hold a mysterious fascination for people from countries where kanji isn’t used at all. T-shirts featuring kanji are a common enough sight in many parts of the world after all, and for people who prefer to wear their favorite Chinese characters in a more, shall I say, permanent way, I guess tattoos are always an option, right?

Well, at least, that’s the option the person in the picture above apparently went for. But she most likely didn’t know what the letters she was getting tattooed on her back actually meant, the poor girl … Read More

Is That Sushi in Your Ear or are You Just Wearing “Crazy Headphones”?

Is That Sushi in Your Ear or are You Just Wearing “Crazy Headphones”?

Gadgets purveyor Apparestore is hoping that pretending your ears are so unclean that fungus has actually started to grow out of them will become the new fashion trend with these “crazy headphones” featuring weird objects that jut out from the earbuds. Samurai swords and sushi are just some of the things you could have seemingly growing out of your ears with a pair of these cheeky earphones.

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High-Tech Water Bottle Turns Cola into Colorless Liquid 【Video】

High-Tech Water Bottle Turns Cola into Colorless Liquid 【Video】

It’s the water bottle of the future! The OKO “advanced filtration water bottle” isn’t your average container for high quality H2O. It features a filtration system developed by NASA that’s so powerful it can filter cola into a clear, colorless liquid in seconds. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the video.

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New Hyundai Concept Car Looks a Bit Like Dragon Ball Character Frieza’s Ride

New Hyundai Concept Car Looks a Bit Like Dragon Ball Character Frieza’s Ride

South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai revealed its new E4U single-person concept car at the recently completed Seoul Motor Show. Egg-like in shape, the mobility device measures 92cm in width while standing 123cm tall. Hyundai believes the vehicle to be suitable for narrow streets in urban centers where speeds are generally slow.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Gets Explosive New Multiplayer Map Set in Kyushu

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Gets Explosive New Multiplayer Map Set in Kyushu

Players of the Call of Duty series are no strangers to downloadable content in the form of additional maps on which to shoot, stab and detonate. Ever since downloadable map packs were released for Call of Duty 3 back in 2007, console gamers have been treated to (or blighted by, depending on your stance on DLC) regular releases of additional content to purchase or risk being the one guy in their group of friends who can’t play on the same maps as everyone else.

This time around, developers Treyarch are dropping virtual soldiers and screaming headset-wearing pubescents on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands. As well as being situated in the shadow of an erupting volcano, the town featured in the map is absolutely covered with cute cultural references and written Japanese which, we’re happy to say, is not riddled with mistakes.

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Six Years After Launch, Nintendo Survey Hints at Charging Accessory for Wii Remotes

Six Years After Launch, Nintendo Survey Hints at Charging Accessory for Wii Remotes

It’s been a long time coming, but Nintendo may have finally cottoned on to the idea that gamers do not enjoy relying on AA batteries to use their wireless controllers. According to reports circulating the Internet this morning, the Kyoto-based company has carried out an online survey asking users whether they’d be interested in purchasing officially branded rechargeable battery packs for their Wii controllers.

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Battleship Island: Five Reasons Why More Movie Villains Should Live Here

Battleship Island: Five Reasons Why More Movie Villains Should Live Here

Hashima Island, better known as Gunkanjima (lit. Battleship Island) due to its warship-like silhouette, is a small island off the coast of Nagasaki with a remarkable history. Owned by Mitsubishi as a coal mining facility from 1887 to 1974, this was once the most densely populated place on the planet, with more than 5,000 inhabitants crammed into its 6 square-kilometre dimensions. Now, the place is deserted and all that’s left of the once-bustling metropolis is an eerie landscape of crumbling, grey buildings.

When the Bond villain Raoul Silva chose the island as his secret lair in the latest 007 movie Skyfall, Gunkanjima received worldwide attention. But did Bond’s nemesis know that the island is home to Japan’s first-ever multi-storey concrete reinforced apartment block? We visited the island and checked out areas off-limits to the public to find out more about what makes this the perfect villain’s lair. Take the full virtual tour and see our photos after the jump.

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Evoland Celebrates the Growth of the Action RPG Genre in Style, Available to Buy Now 【Review】

Evoland Celebrates the Growth of the Action RPG Genre in Style, Available to Buy Now 【Review】

In January this year, we brought you news of an upcoming video game that quite literally evolves as you play, starting off as a monochrome mass of pixels before slowly introducing virtually every gaming mechanic and action RPG element that we’ve come to know and love, culminating with full-on 3-D visuals, giant demons and a suitably epic plot. That game is Evoland, and after long last it’s available to buy from today.

RocketNews24 was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of the game late last week. Having poured over the original promotional video for so long, it was with high expectations that we sat down with the full game for an extended session of hacking, slashing and critical dissecting. The finished article, we’re happy to say, is absolutely spellbinding.

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